Wonderful Exhausting Weekend

So, I took a long weekend, it was relaxing and exhausting at the same time. A long weekend without my husband, who I missed, but sometimes it's fun to see the family and do stuff on my own.

The weekend began with a lovely drive up to NEPA (Northeast Pennsylvania), where my parents live. I was really looking forward to a taste of Fall. Being here in MD, it never seems as prominent. I miss the Fall and Spring times of PA. I also miss my mom's cooking and luckily for me, my mom made one of my favorites.

I also had the pleasure of meeting my sister's boyfriend's kids. They are a great group, but tiring! They have so much energy. Apparently they were told that I eat little girls and throw little boys in the garbage. :o) But they figured out that was a rumor.

Saturday I spent with my mom, shopping! We went to this place called Holley Ross and looked at some pottery. Then, we had a surprisingly great lunch at Hazard's Raintree. To top the shopping trip off, we went to Ritter's Farm. This farm actually has two store areas, one down the road which newer and more commercial, and the other which is the original that has the cider press you can watch and you can see them making cider donuts. We went to the old school one to watch the donut making. We then purchased a bunch of yummy apples, a couple pies and of course, cider donuts! Yum! Then my dad, my dog (Emmy) and I went for a nice walk down to the lake behind my house. Unfortunately, the dog got into something stinky, so it was a bath for her.

Sunday the dog and I took a drive to Penn State. Woot! It's been a while since I went there and I have definitely missed it. I spent the evening hanging out with my husband's family (is that strange?), which is always great fun.

The best thing? I finished the Baby Surprise Jacket (pattern from an Elizabether Zimmerman book, I can't recall off hand)! The thing is, it was a total surprise and the coolest thing ever! I had no idea how it was going to turn out. I knit and knit and followed the pattern and did not have faith that it was going to turn out. It took a few minutes to figure out which way it went after it came off the needle. People weren't kidding when they say it's amazing! I'll post more about this later, I have to rescue the pictures from my father's camera.